21st Century Oyster Bay Beach Cleanup

Rainy skies gave way to beautiful sunshine as the Bethpage armada landed on the shores of Oyster Bay Harbor. An energetic group of Middle School and High School students of the Marine Science Club removed hundreds of pounds of debris from the shoreline. For many of the students it was their first time visiting Center Island and they were impressed by its elegant beauty and diversity of wildlife. Besides improving the environment our students learned about an endangered bird, the piping plover. This tiny bird lays its eggs directly on the sand without building a formal nest. Their strategy is camouflage, the coloring of their eggs mimics the sand. Several protective zones were established to prevent people from stepping on the eggs. The group also experienced ospreys, egrets, terns, herons, cormorants and a well-deserved B-B-Q.